The issues that arose today were finally resolved.
However, looking at the devastated scene before them, combined with the previous commotion, the group exchanged uneasy glances.
Although this place was hidden, it was still near Spirit Hall, and it was likely to attract attention.
Seeing this, Azure Luan stepped forward and used wind blades to plow the surrounding ground again. Guang Ling, understanding his intent, followed up with a few arrows to create the appearance of a sparring match between the two.
After all the activity, the valley was no more, having been filled in by the collapsed hills around it.
The surroundings of the valley also suffered—trees were scattered everywhere by the wind blades, and the ground was full of craters from the arrows, completely covering up any previous traces.
The group then headed back to the city, bumping into Spirit Hall personnel who came to investigate. They tossed out an explanation that the two were sparring and continued on their way to Wuhun City.
Whether those people would investigate further or just return wasn't their concern. They had given an explanation, and whether it was believed or not was of no matter to them.
After returning to the city, for the next few days, Han Li and the others tried the previous operation again.
It wasn't until they could quickly stabilize and it was no different from regular cultivation that Han Li resumed his busy schedule.
There were quite a few tasks ahead of him. The first was that Shui Bing'er needed to go home and acquire her second soul ring.
She hadn't been a disciple for long, and there were no soul beasts in Wuhun City suitable for her. However, they had discovered that a Condensed Water Flying Eagle with over four thousand years of cultivation was spotted in the Icebound Forest, which was perfect for her second soul ring.
The problem was that her current physique couldn't handle it, so Han Li spent the next few days helping her refine whale glue to quickly enhance her physique.
The second matter was related to the martial fusion technique.
As soon as they returned, Han Li reported this to the Worship Hall and brought the two girls to demonstrate the results.
His headache came from this: Qian Daoliu approached him directly.
It was obvious where Han Li's martial fusion technique would be most useful—the Angel Legion, without a doubt.
The Angel Legion consisted of a large number of dual-winged angel martial souls with unwavering faith in the Angel God.
However, both Han Li and Qian Daoliu knew that he could not and should not spend a long time teaching them.
Firstly, this was Han Li's prime cultivation time, which could not be wasted.
Secondly, this was the Spirit Hall's, or rather the Qian family's, private army. Teaching them like this was inappropriate and differed from Han Li's previous efforts to win over the other Worships.
Thus, after instructing them once, Han Li decisively gave it up.
Moreover, Han Li deeply understood one thing: people are different. Even when he taught hands-on, there were Soul Sage who frequently made mistakes, showing that talent and intelligence are not always directly related.
So, he was currently biting his pen, racking his brains to come up with a simplified three-step cultivation manual that the Angel Legion, who only knew how to praise angels, could follow.
As for his earlier suspicions about the Star Luo Dai family, Guang Ling informed him that Qian Daoliu had already sent people to investigate quietly, and they just had to wait for the results.
Half a month later, Azure Luan left with Shui Bing'er, whose physique had temporarily reached its limit.
Han Li finally managed to create a handbook based on elementary school reading comprehension from his previous life—one with pictures and captions—and tossed it to the Angel Legion for them to follow in their cultivation.
Just as he was finally able to relax, Guang Ling returned from the Worship Hall with a face full of joy.
The first thing he said upon entering was, "Xiao Li, the matter of the Holy Son has been settled. In three days, your new identity will be known across the entire continent."
"Is there going to be some kind of ceremony? And what information are they going to announce?"
Han Li asked instinctively upon hearing Guang Ling's words.
"Don't worry, the ceremony is simple and not public. It will be held internally within the Martial Soul Hall. All you need to do is attend and go through the motions."
"As for your information, considering your age, only your name and your Martial Soul, the Ice-Fire Dragon God Bow, will be announced. No images of you will be released, so you can rest easy."
Guang Ling responded with a somewhat amused look at his frowning apprentice.
Although Han Li had chosen to step into the spotlight, Guang Ling was still familiar with his personality and had naturally taken care of everything.
"Oh, that's good then."
Han Li breathed a sigh of relief. He was still walking the high-level route and didn't want to be stared at like a giant panda the moment he stepped out.
"Just don't get stage fright. Our dear Pope will be the one crowning you."
Guang Ling winked at him and teased.
"That's no big deal. If she tries to embarrass me in front of so many people, she'll only embarrass herself."
Han Li wasn't worried about this at all and said it with his usual calm demeanor.
"Tsk, talking to you is no fun."
Guang Ling clicked his tongue and pouted.
"Alright, I've notified you. Prepare yourself well. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be going now."
"Oh, and don't start cultivating just yet. Someone will come by shortly to measure your height and physique to tailor your clothes."
Guang Ling added this just before he left the courtyard.
...
Three days flew by, and soon it was the day of the Holy Son's investiture.
Guang Ling looked Han Li up and down, who was dressed in a splendid platinum ceremonial robe and had neatly groomed hair, and expressed his satisfaction, "Not bad, that suits you."
Han Li looked helplessly at Guang Ling, who was still joking with him, and said, "Alright, Master, we should get going."
"Alright, alright, in a few hours, I'll have to call you 'Your Highness the Holy Son.'"
Guang Ling turned and walked outside, not forgetting to tease him once more.
Han Li shook his head, didn't say anything, and looked at the two women beside him: "Let's go, we should follow."
...
In front of the Pope's Hall, on the plaza.
At this moment, most of the personnel of the Martial Soul Hall in Wuhun City had gathered here. Except for those who needed to perform guard duties, almost everyone was present.
Some mid- and low-level personnel were still quietly speculating about what major announcement was going to be made today.
In contrast, the high-level personnel, who were already in the know, remained silent, just waiting for the event to begin.
Under everyone's gaze, the doors of the Pope's Hall slowly opened.
A procession of twelve red-clad cardinals emerged from a side door, taking their places on either side.
"The Pope has arrived."
As a voice echoed across the plaza, the crowd fell silent, bowed, and greeted, "Your Holiness, Pope."
After the greeting, everyone turned their eyes to Bibi Dong, who stood on the central steps.
However, to their surprise, the person following behind her was not the two familiar titled Douluos but a young man with a handsome face.
Bibi Dong, expressionless, scanned the crowd below. Her voice, amplified by her soul power, spread across the entire plaza.
"By unanimous decision of the Pope's Hall and the Worship Hall, from today onwards, Han Li is the Holy Son of our Martial Soul Hall."
With that, she took a platinum crown handed to her by a red-clad cardinal and placed it on Han Li's head, thus completing the ceremony.
Before the personnel in the back could react, they heard the high-level members in the front bowing again and shouting, "Greetings, Your Highness the Holy Son."
Confused, they could only follow suit.
When they looked up again, they found the steps in front of them empty once more.
Neither the Pope nor the new Holy Son was in sight. Many of them hadn't even gotten a clear look at the Holy Son's face.
The remaining time was spent with the red-clad cardinals organizing an orderly departure.
In short, they understood one thing from today's event: from now on, the Martial Soul Hall had a mysterious new Holy Son named Han Li.
Meanwhile, our Holy Son, having declined the ensuing banquet, was rushing home.
It wasn't that he didn't want to converse with others—the high-level members had already remembered him—but at the moment the ceremony concluded, he received a long-awaited contact from his dutiful son(plane consciousness).
Since awakening Martial Soul, Han Li was almost eight years old, and ever since his dutiful son contacted him once at the age of three to provide some basic information, he had not appeared again.
Five years, five years, do you know how I got through these five years?
Han Li wanted to scold him loudly.
But when he thought about how smoothly and successfully things had gone for him during these five years, with everything he wished for coming true, he closed his mouth. Hmm, it seemed there wasn't much to complain about.
Quickly entering his room, he locked the door and set up a barrier of soul power around him before closing his eyes. He sank his mind into the spiritual world and stared at a small light ball, not knowing if it truly existed.
It couldn't even be called a stare; that thing didn't have any eyes. To be precise, even the image of this small light ball was something he had determined.
"Praise be to you, great father. Thank you for awakening me from my slumber. I have finally caught up with your footsteps again, always ready to serve you."
Whether it was because it was bound to Han Li or because it had awakened from instinct to consciousness due to receiving high-dimensional fragments, as soon as Han Li's spiritual body projected in and looked at it, it actively conveyed a message, quite fawningly. The consciousness of the small light ball also flickered.
Although the lines were different, Han Li heard a strange tone, as if he had seen this scene somewhere before, giving him a sense of déjà vu.
Forget it, after all, this is my cheat; I can't be too harsh.
So he asked, "So, you only just woke up again?"
"Yes, great father, it is entirely thanks to you becoming the Holy Son. The massive return of fortune allowed me to suppress the overwhelming instincts and regain control."
The small light ball flickered and circled around Han Li, seemingly very happy.
"Why is this happening? Does your consciousness still get suppressed by instincts after awakening?"
Han Li unconsciously furrowed his brows. This was far from his concept of planar consciousness.
"Father, it is the rules, the rules set by the Divine Realm. Douluo Star is directly under the jurisdiction of the Divine Realm. Under the constraints of the rules, I shouldn't have been born, but due to your presence, I unexpectedly gained consciousness."
"Under the influence of the rules, you could say that my original instincts and I exemplify both opposition and cooperation. But one day, we will merge into one and completely become your vassal."
The small light ball stopped flying and nudged Han Li's feet.
"So, what can you do now?"
Han Li asked directly; he roughly understood the meaning of the planar consciousness.
The small light ball paused its leg-nudging action for a moment before sending a message: "Your luck has improved by about thirty percent compared to before."
"And besides that?"
Han Li squatted down and held it in his right hand.
"You can summon me to chat?"
The small light ball seemed a bit scared, its flickering frequency increasing significantly.
"And what else?"
Han Li gently stroked it with his left hand, his actions very gentle, and his tone equally soft.
"Father, you know me. The rules of the Divine Realm are too restrictive. I am currently too weak, so the only things I can manipulate are luck and influencing some soul beasts with not very strong self-awareness."
"However, don't worry. As you grow stronger, I will be able to modify the rules in the future, deciding life and death with a word, and shaping mountains and rivers with a thought."
"Oh, by the way, Father, I have also broken some restrictions for you. You can now clearly sense the power of faith and filter it through me to rapidly enhance your mental power."
"Of course, if you intervene, I can also influence other people's luck to a certain extent."
The small light ball seemed to sense Han Li's "killing intent" and hurriedly spilled all the things it could currently do, even somewhat incoherently.
"So, I can now strip others of their luck?"
Han Li's eyes lit up, his hand moving away from it. Compared to the previous passive abilities, he preferred this more active usage.
"But the prerequisite is that you are involved in the matter, and based on your level of involvement, I can maximize the stripping of their luck."
The small light ball's glow fluctuated, seemingly afraid of displeasing its father.
"Good, very good."
Han Li was very pleased at this moment. To be honest, he hadn't expected much more.
Because just by having stronger luck due to greater strength, he could already dominate. Now, with the added ability to strip enemies of luck, he was even more satisfied.
"By the way, tell me more about absorbing the power of faith to enhance mental power. Why did you specifically mention this?"
Han Li noticed the planar consciousness had mentioned breaking some restrictions for him.
"Alright, father. This is the knowledge that appeared in my mind after I gained consciousness, and it should be related to the rules of the Divine Realm."
The small light ball, sensing his change in attitude, joyfully circled around him again.
"Originally, with the continent's energy level, beings could reach level one hundred and should be able to sense the Divine Realm. But for some reason, under the current rules of the Divine Realm, it's very difficult for them to break through to level one hundred. Unless they undergo a divine inheritance, they can only rely on a massive amount of faith power to condense a divine position on their own."
"Condensing the power of faith requires a large amount of time, and the divine position formed by relying on the power of faith must fulfill corresponding duties."
"But if filtered through me, Father, you only need to enjoy the benefits brought by the power of faith, while the duties will be transferred to me. Of course, this is inherently my responsibility."
"The power of faith can be used to accelerate cultivation. For you, the speed of soul power cultivation is not an issue; however, the cultivation of mental power currently relies only on natural growth. Even the one who was previously tampered with by someone from the Divine Realm only had a slightly faster growth in mental power, which is why I am recommending this to you."
"As long as your soul reaches the level of a divine soul, the power of faith can be transformed into primordial energy with my assistance. At that point, you will become the god of the entire plane, without needing to go to the Divine Realm. The whole continent will become your divine kingdom, gradually evolving into a true Divine Realm."
"And as you become a god, the speed of the plane's transformation will also accelerate. Both the conversion rate of the power of faith and the speed of external energy absorption will be rapid, allowing new gods to be born here again."
The small light ball stopped flying and landed back in his palm, expressing its affection.